“Online Assessment in Mathematics and Writing: Reports From the NAEP Technology-Based Assessment Project, Research and Development Series,” is posted by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Computerized mathematics tests appear to be more difficult for students to take than tests given on paper, according to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The report—which collected data in 2001 on nearly 1,000 8th grade students who took a computerized mathematics exam—found that while a majority of those students reported using a computer at home and school, their mean scale scores on the test were 4 points lower than the more than 2,700 8th grade students who took a similar test on paper. Researchers considered that difference statistically significant.
The August 2005 report also examined data collected in 2002 on more than 1,300 8th grade students who took a computerized writing test. But researchers found no significant differences between students who took the writing test online and a nationally representative sample of students who took a similar test on paper.